


I is for Ice and Intervention

by EmmettM2025



Series: The Alphabet [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22641559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmettM2025/pseuds/EmmettM2025
Summary: Steve makes some bad decisions while fighting a bad guy on the streets of New York. Tony and Buck are worried.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: The Alphabet [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1188592
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	I is for Ice and Intervention

**Author's Note:**

> Woo! Another letter! I look forward to hearing what you think and all of that jazz. Comments and kudos make me write faster and I would love to hear any constructive criticism towards my work. 
> 
> Thank you to @TonyStark_Is_AnAngel for being an amazing beta, @Narutaisho for being such a godsend when I was trying to figure out how I wanted to write this fic, @asphxdels for the late night insight onto something sweet I could include in this letter. It wasn’t an extremely large part of the story but it did make its way in there! Also @What_A_Winchester_Wants for helping me find a starting point and to connect the words for this letter together! Team work makes the dream work! 
> 
> WARNING: This does deal with nightmares and Steve's PTSD regarding ice and the war, though mainly the ice. It's not really described in-depth and so shouldn't really be a trigger but I want to include this just in case. 
> 
> Enjoy!

If I had caught the look in Steve’s eye when the three of us flew out of bed to respond to the Avengers alarm, I would have made him stay at the tower with Bruce. 

“Sir, his heart has stopped beating,” Jarvis declares into my ear. At any other time, I would have marveled at the raw panic that is audible in his voice, but not when it’s my Stevie on the chopping block. 

Pushing the suit to fly as fast as possible, I rush to Steve’s location. I can hear Buck doing the same if his huffs of breathless panic are anything to go by.

When I land next to Steve’s limp body, the sight is not pretty. His mask is messed up a little bit, laying on his forehead instead of his cheeks, and his lips are parted in an inaudible sigh. The blast of ice that he took from the villain’s ice gun means that his shoulder is an ugly mass of dark purple, no doubt frostbitten at this point. 

Buck runs up to me, and the rest of the team closes ranks around us to protect us from the attacking wooly mammoths running amok in the city. Thankful to have one less distraction, Buck and I work together to get Steve’s top off to see the damage. 

The damage done by the hit is not all that bad, it isn’t deep nor is it wide, so I can’t entirely tell what stopped his heart. I wait impatiently for Jarvis to finish his analysis from his readers in Steve’s suit, heart-wrenching at the sight of Buck hovering over Steve’s carcass uncertainly. 

“Sir, ice has made it into his heart. Heating him up will melt the ice and his heart will start beating on its own again,” Jarvis informs after taking a scan of Steve’s internal organs. 

Cursing, I step out of my suit and cuddle up to Steve from behind as fast as I can. Buck throws off the most heat so he is better suited to warm up Steve’s front. Jarvis maneuvers the suit to stand behind me, partially as a guard and partially to throw off some heat of his own using the gauntlets. 

Buck yanks off his chest armor and places himself chest-to-chest with Steve as fast as he can. 

We stare at each other worriedly over Steve’s head as we wait for him to thaw. The two of us are shivering from the places where the cold touches us long before Steve shows any sign of life, but we stay in place. 

Expecting some huge flail when Steve’s heart finally starts to beat again, I am startled to see his shoulders start to move before anything else. He’s smushed into Buck’s chest so we don’t hear any words but his shoulders shake in a weird way. 

The two of us pull away, worried Steve is in pain but the idiot is actually laying there laughing so hard that tears are streaming down his face. 

“I love you guys,” he wheezes. 

Finding his humor contagious, most likely because some idiot with a freeze gun dragged us out of bed before the sun was up, Buck and I start to laugh too. It is a little weird, the three of us cuddling in the middle of Wall Street to restart Steve’s heart while our teammates stand in a circle around us fighting wooly mammoths. 

The wooly mammoths alone are comedic. 

Pushing myself back to my feet with a huff, I climb back into the suit and haul my boy to his feet. 

Glancing around to check out the status of the fight, Natasha turns to us. “Get him to the medbay, we’ve got this handled,” she orders. 

Nodding, I wait until Steve has his arm around my right shoulder and Buck has grabbed around my waist tightly before flying towards the compound. 

It isn’t until later when I even think to threaten Steve for doing something so stupid as to get shot by the ice gun. By then it falls on deaf ears because “Tony I’m fine.” 

* * *

I’m sitting in a chair by the hospital bed later, watching Steve sleep with Buck curled around him when I realize that it isn’t really fine. Steve made a stupid mistake on the field that he shouldn’t have made. 

Something was horribly wrong when he got up to fight that morning, I don’t know if it was because he had a nightmare or what but this whole situation should not have happened. 

“I can hear you thinking from here,” Buck whispers over Steve’s chest. He stares at me expectantly while I sort out my thoughts a little bit more. 

“Steve made a very stupid mistake that never should have happened and now he’s shrugging it off without any sort of explanation,” I state. 

“When he wants to explain what happened, he will doll, you know that,” Buck counters. 

“You heard him! He thinks that just because he’s fine he doesn’t owe any explanation! Well, I’ve drawn the line. What happened was bad and should not have happened. I think that the three of us need to take a break from active duty,” I declare. 

“What T, what is this? An intervention?” Steve breaks in. It should say something about how upset I am that I didn’t even notice that he was awake. 

“That is exactly what it is,” I retort. “Steve, I love you and I would never force you to deal with something you aren’t ready to face, but whatever happened on the field out there almost cost you your life.”

Buck goes to state something else, probably on Steve’s behalf, but Steve nods. Studying my face, I can see something click in his mind. 

“You’re right Tony, my actions were inexcusable and very stupid. Why don’t we go spend a week at the cabin? ‘Bout time for a vacation anyway,” Steve jokes weakly. 

I can tell he isn’t entirely ready to face whatever bothers him, which is perfectly okay, he’ll deal with it when he is ready. Maybe just taking a step back is a good move though, if only for a few days. Plus I had a hot tub put in for Pepper to use when she needs a break and I haven’t tried it yet. 

Buck still isn’t sold on the idea, but we leave for the cabin as soon as Steve is cleared from medical. The ride is silent, but not awkward and Jarvis drives most of the way while the three of us wrap around each other for comfort.

* * *

It is very dark in the room when I open my eyes. The only light comes from the dimmed moonlight that filters in passed the clouds and through the windows, but I could see Steve shivering in the corner of the room as if the lights were all on their brightest setting. 

The sight is very startling, but I remain sitting to assess the situation. He is all curled up in the fetal position on the floor, back to the corner, and he is sweating profusely. His eyes are still closed though, which usually means he’s either still dreaming or fighting off horrifying images.

Buck sits up next to me and studies Steve quietly for a minute. 

We never know how to handle Steve’s nightmares. When I have a nightmare, I need something to remind me of where I am and who I am with or I forget and my mind wanders through all of the traumatizing places I have been. 

Buck, when he has nightmares, dissociates and we have to remind him who he is, specifically that he is no longer defined as ‘the asset’, nor is he only the Winter Soldier anymore. 

Steve, though, we have no approach to his nightmares that has actually worked out. This time is no different. Buck and I look at each other, lost on what to do. The options are to approach Steve and try to talk him through it or to just let him come out of it on his own and comfort him when he becomes fully aware again. 

Leaving the decision up to Buck, I head downstairs to make us some tea. No matter what happens, Buck and I will be awake for as long as Steve is because none of us ever want to be alone after a nightmare.

I stare out of the window in thought as I wait for the water to start boiling. 

The moonlight fights to shine through the clouds as the snow comes down in thick, fluffy pieces. There would be a layer on the ground come morning, and I am almost glad to see it. It’ll be beautiful.

I am very worried about Steve. His nightmares have been progressively getting worse and he took serious damage from it only a few days ago. Who knows what could happen if he doesn’t form some sort of coping mechanism for the issues that he is currently struggling with. 

Steve won’t try therapy because he doesn’t feel comfortable talking to anyone about all of his problems as he is very much a carry-your-own-burdens type of guy. While I understand where he is coming from, and I struggle with that myself from time to time, I also know that bottling up emotions and memories instead of dealing with them can only make the problems worse. 

Steve and Buck come stumbling down the stairs, leaning against each other for support. Steve glistens with sweat and there is definitely some tension in his forehead and shoulders. Buck is sleepy and stumbles groggily but I know that he could be wide awake in a moment if needed. 

We carry our tea to the couch to sit next to the embers of the dying fire. We haven’t tended to it since last night, so naturally, it has almost entirely gone out. 

Sipping my tea in silence, watching the snow continue to fall, I contemplate the next step. 

“Do you guys wanna take a dip in the hot tub? I don’t think we’ll be falling asleep anytime soon,” I offer. The silence is tense and I can’t stand it. 

“I’ll go yeah,” Buck agrees. Steve looks more wary of the snow and the cold than anything we’ve dealt with than the wooly mammoths, but he agrees to it nonetheless. 

By the time we’ve finished our tea and stripped down to our boxers, the sun is slowly beginning to rise. 

I get right into the hot tub as fast as possible, not wanting to be cold, but I notice that Steve spaces out as soon as we step foot outside. Buck stays close by as Steve walks out into the snow and stares at it as if it is the most enchanting thing in the world. 

The sight of him standing almost naked in the snow, the sun rising in the distance, takes my breath away. 

“Can’t even feel the cold, can you buddy?” Buck asks from behind Steve as he approaches. 

“No, I can’t,” Steve whispers, entirely enraptured. 

“Not too scary huh?” Buck questions. 

“It’s beautiful,” Steve whispers, glancing back at Buck with something like unbridled happiness. My heart sings at the sight of it. 

Buck wraps his arms around Steve from behind and they just stand there for a moment, enjoying the snowfall and the feeling of Steve taking a sizable step towards conquering his fear of the cold and ice. Eventually, though, Buck turns them both towards the hot tub and they join me with a hiss of shock at the abrupt temperature change. 

We stay wrapped around each other and watch as the sun rises behind clouds full of fluffy snow. 

I don’t know when it happens, but Steve and Buck begin to talk, reminiscing about the past, and it’s a moment that I make sure to memorize. 

“I remember one year where I had such a bad case of pneumonia that they didn’t think I was going to make it. They had a priest read me my last rites and everything but I pulled through. Ma and Buck had left me alone to sleep it off and instead of staying in bed as I should have, I snuck out the window and climbed down the fire escape to play in the snow. When Ma and Buck found out, I couldn’t tell you who screamed at me more for it but I was just relieved to experience snow after being so close to death that I didn’t care. 

“Mmh, I remember that,” Buck speaks up. “You were such a little shit. When Sarah and I found you, you were shivering and covered in snow and water. Sarah was so worried that you were going to get sick again, but I knew that you were gonna live your life no matter what so I didn’t bother yelling too much.” 

“Love you too Buck,” Steve says with a smile. Sighing in contentment, he starts to talk about what is going on in his head and we don’t do anything other than listen until even Steve and Buck are starting to prune. 

Ultimately it isn’t even the ice that affects Steve anymore, but the memory of how defeated Steve was when he put that plane down. At that moment, he didn’t want to keep fighting at all, not even for Peggy, and that feeling of giving up so completely is what haunts him today. 

Of course, that feeling is entirely attached to the ice and it is an unpleasant sensation to him anyway from his defrosting period. 

He smiles peacefully after saying his piece, and we watch the rest of the sunrise in silence. The moment is so quiet and pure that I never want it to end. 

After exiting the hot tub, Steve’s shoulders are noticeably less weighed down by stress, and Buck’s furrowed eyebrows have finally smoothed out. Quickly running inside to dry off, I laugh as Buck throws a snowball at the back of Steve’s before running inside. 

If we rush through drying off and bundling up in warm clothes to have a snowball fight under the rising sun, who is going to tell? After all, it is just us against the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Any comments and constructive criticisms are welcomed! 
> 
> I love talking to new people so feel free to message me on tumblr or discord, @music-culture-mythology. Just make sure you let me know where you're coming from! Thanks for reading!


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